Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Tot School

Tot school has been sporadic since early December. Bookworm will declare, "I have to do school," and run to get a lap book to look through. I chuckle but also feel guilty that a three-year-old is deciding when she needs to do school. We have a lot of learning tools around the house that we use all day long. I know she is still learning, I'm just not being intentional about her learning.

Two weeks ago Bookworm was doing tot school at the table while Gypsy was still awake. In the past I have waited until Gypsy is down for a nap and tot school can happen on the floor (where I think it should happen).

Having tot school on the floor allows tots focus on the activity not balancing in a chair while managing to keep all pieces on the table and having the table above a comfortable hand level. Sitting on the floor lets the tot let a ball roll away without freaking out that she dropped it and now needs you to retrieve it or take two whole minutes to get down, retrieve it, get back into the chair and then still need you to push her back up to the table. Phew! That is exhausting just thinking about it.

Well this particular day I knew I needed to do tot school right then and my floor reasoning had to be put aside. Gypsy was playing and Bookworm needed some structure. So I laid crammed all her activities on the table with her so she could choose what she wanted. Since our table is not that big it allowed easy access to Gypsy... Those grabby hands were snatching everything she could see. Between helping Bookworm keeping an eye on Gypsy, retrieving all the snatched items from Gypsy, and starting lunch I was exhausted. I needed a nap.

Instead of taking a nap I began looking for tot school tools for Gypsy. Can I let you in on a little secret? There isn't much posted on the internet for a 16-month-old. I was so frustrated. I needed tools for Gypsy. She sees what her big sister is doing and wants to join in. I did find a few items (pictures will be posted later this week), but I was still not satisfied.

A few days later I got news of Totally Tots. I was excited that the focus was going to be on tots including Gypsy's age. I'm still waiting for some teaching tool posts. But I know they are coming.

With all of this searching I was getting inspired to come up with some new activities and itching to buy some new teaching tools. I recently made a few sales from my etsy shop so I had some money to spend on school. Discount School Supply was having a big sale. I get emails from them but it's hit or miss if I actually read them. Thanks to to a friend, I knew about the sale and started making a wish list. Working in nursery schools for so long I know Discount School Supply is one of the best to buy from.

I my order is due to arrive tomorrow!!!!! I can NOT wait! YIPPEE! Last night I went to the dollar store and found some great buys too. I've been in planning mode the past few days and I am looking forward to tot school next week. Yesterday we made some "Love Bugs" for Brad (ladybugs with hearts, those pictures will come soon too) and both girls did tot school while awake at the same time, and Bookworm was sitting on the floor! Be sure to check back later this week for pictures of our tot time.

Andi and Brad have been married since 2002. They have five squishers who keep them on their toes. She is a second generation home educator. In her spare time Andi creates and sells handmade goodies in her shop, Andi Gould Designs.

1 comment:

ooh...im excited to see your ideas. with lorelai being 19 months it's hard to find ideas for her sometimes. i like that i get to be creative with this whole tot school thing. i think lorelai and i both get a lot out of the experience!